Our Story: More About Oki Counseling
Tony Simon established Oki Counseling in 2021 to provide the highest quality professional counseling to the English-speaking communities living in Okinawa and Greater Japan.
Before Oki Counseling, Tony served as Licensed Clinical Social Worker at the U.S. Naval Hospital-Okinawa for three years. He provided psychotherapy and stress management consultations for active duty service members and their families, as well as DoD teachers, contractors, and others. He also served as the Program Manager for the hospital’s diabetes prevention program and provided treatment for tobacco cessation.
Tony has been a resident of Okinawa since 2016. Prior to founding Oki Counseling, Tony provided psychotherapy services at TELL Counseling in Japan, and at outpatient clinics in Massachusetts and Missouri. He has experience working with individuals struggling with anxiety, grief, post-traumatic stress, eating disorders, depression, stress management, difficulty concentrating, and challenges related to adjusting to living in a foreign county.
Tony is a Florida Licensed Clinical Social Worker (#SW15160) and has been providing psychotherapy since 2015. He received his Masters of Social Work degree at University of Missouri-Columbia. While living abroad, Tony maintains his clinical license to ensure that he provides the most professional and effective treatment possible. At the same time, he takes great care to provide a warm, caring, and nonjudgmental space in which to work side-by-side with individuals who are seeking help and support. For more about what to expect in therapy, click here.
Professional affiliations include International Mental Health Professionals Japan, National Association of Social Workers, and Association of Contextual Behavioral Science.
When relaxing, Tony loves spending time with his wife, their silly cats, exploring wild and natural environments, and listening to the wonders of jazz music.
Chi-ching (Gigi) Chuang, Ph.D., is a Licensed Psychologist (Florida PSY 10122), and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) in the United States. She received her professional training from the University of Missouri and the May Institute (both accredited by the American Psychological Association). Dr. Gigi works with children and adolescents with a variety of emotional and behavioral concerns, including anxiety, depression, school refusal, disruptive behaviors and aggression. She provides professional consultations to teachers and parents to support them to manage children’s challenging behaviors.
Dr. Gigi has been working with military families for the past seven years in Okinawa and other parts of Japan. For therapy and treatment, Dr. Gigi adopts Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). She is a member of American Psychological Association, National Association of School Psychologists, Japanese Psychological Association, and International School Psychology Association.
Dr. Gigi provides services in English and Mandarin Chinese.
Our Mission
It’s simple: we’re here to help.
Individuals and families who have relocated to Okinawa and greater Japan face many challenges with living in a foreign country, and we will provide effective professional mental healthcare to support their well-being.
Each person and their story is unique, and we’re committed to using our years of experience and expertise to help individuals navigate their inner and outer lives, working to discover how best to achieve more healing, ease, and fulfillment.
Oki Counseling is a division of the parent company GTS Services, whose mission is to provide a variety of mental health services.
